Members of the Springfield basketball team are, from left: Manny Durden, Markese Hicks, Chad Roy, Mason Durden, and Demajeo Wiggins. The Blue Devils have not won a league title since 1996-97.
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Published: Friday, 11/29/2013 - Updated: 1 year ago

NLL

Springfield gets nod in wide-open league

5 different champs have claimed regular-season title in last 5 seasons

BY MARK MONROE BLADE SPORTS WRITER

Call it balance, parity, or depth, but the Northern Lakes League has featured five different champions in the last five seasons.

The race may once again be wide open. Springfield gets the early nod from coaches to win its first title since 1996-97 when the Blue Devils shared the crown with Perrysburg. Springfield received seven first-place votes in a preseason coaches' poll.

Only two letterwinners return for Springfield third-year coach Stan Joplin, but six promising newcomers bring great skill and promise to the fast-paced attack.

“We have a lot of potential as a team,” Joplin said. “We will be very athletic and should be able to get the tempo up and score the basketball effectively.”

Senior guard Markese Hicks averaged 8.7 points per game last year. Senior guard Manny Durden has transferred from Rossford along with his sophomore brother Mason Durden.

The Blue Devils went from 4-17 to 15-8 last season under Joplin, the former University of Toledo coach.

“If we share the basketball effectively and learn to turn down good shots to get great shots for our teammates, we should have success,” Joplin said. “Good teams always do the little things at a high level to win games and we must focus on those.”

Perrysburg has three returning starters for veteran coach Dave Boyce. The Yellow Jackets will be led by senior guard Nick Moschetti, the league's top returning scorer who averaged 17.3 points.

With two returning starters among five letterwinners, Anthony Wayne coach Bryan Borcherdt has the weapons to make a run at a repeat. Senior guard Matt Fox averaged 13.5 points to garner All-NLL second team honors.

Durden earned All-Northern Buckeye Conference second team honors as a sophomore at Rossford when he averaged 14.0 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.

Joplin, who has a 19-25 overall record, said he likes his team's athleticism and quickness. But he is concerned about the lack of size.

“We don't have much bulk so we will get pushed around by the more physical teams,” he said. “We also need to learn how to give consistent effort throughout an entire game. We have spurts but must learn how to maintain it for 32 minutes.”

Outlook: Fox is back as a starter along with Jake Reid (6.0 points, 4.0 rebounds). Johnson (2.2 points) came off the bench.

Borcherdt lost center Mark Donnal to the University of Michigan.

“We will be deeper than we have been in years past with a solid inside and outside game,” Borcherdt said. “I look forward to what this team could be. We are more athletic than we have been the last two seasons and are taller, across the board.”

Outlook: Sheridan lost his entire starting five to graduation but has four letterwinners back. Harding, Callahan, Matcham, Utter, and Mauro all saw some time on the varsity.

Seniors Mitchell Kontak (G), Joey Szymanski (F), and Vikram Saini (F) have shown promise along with a strong core that played on the JV.

Sheridan cites unselfishness and team chemistry as strong suits.

“We’ll have to share the ball and be a team that does things by committee,” he said. “Our players seem to be gelling well together. We’ve got a lot of new faces this year, so team cohesiveness will be paramount.”

Outlook: Stone returns as the point guard after averaging 9.5 points and 6.5 assists. He earned All-NLL first team honors. Gardner scored 2.5 points and grabbed 2.4 rebounds.

Malinowski said he likes his team's ability to shoot the ball. He also said the Bobcats have good all around team speed. The team lacks height with no player over 6-2. BG does not have much experience.

“[We] will rely heavily offensively on the team's overall good speed and their shooter knocking down shots,” Malinowski said. “Defensively the focus has been on protecting the lane and rebounding.”

Downing averaged 4.0 points per game, while Wendt chipped in with 2.0 points per game.

West tallied 5.0 points and grabbed 5.0 rebounds per game.

Shadle said his team is long and athletic.

“We are going to force the tempo of the game with an aggressive pressing defense,” he said. “I think that we are going to rebound the basketball pretty well, especially on the offensive end of the floor. Our length is going to cause opponents some issues getting into their offenses.”

But he graduated seven seniors who contributed 45 points per game.

“Varsity experience will be our biggest hurdle,” Shadle said. “I think we are going to be a very scrappy team that is going to cause some ugly basketball games with the tempo that we are going to play. It is going to be important to experience some early success."

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